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Being is the Ground of Consciousness

~ http://wp.me/prH9G-dY ~
++++ “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them?” William Shakespeare – Hamlet 3/1 ++++
++++ I am a humane being. You are you and have the right to define yourself as you see fit. Together we can compose a ‘we’, yet each of us is an individual being with our own song. I express my ideas and ideals ~the way I see it, the way I want it. I have no right to speak for you or for all of us. I do have the natural right to express my own truth as I understand the truth to be. The truth dwells in the center of life. It is not stuck out on a Left-Wing or a Right-Wing. The eagle requires both wings to fly.

As a mortal being I have basic survival needs: food, clothing, shelter, medical care and quality education. I also have deep spiritual needs that when met help me to become more of a complete whole being. I exist in the wholistic trinity of the mind, body and soul. I am not merely my mind nor merely my body. I have an eternal soul that has the potential to resonate with all souls in the cosmos.

I am aware that there are many troubles in the world. I am not blind to what is going on. At the same time, I see the importance of working on my own spiritual growth and evolution as a humane being. It is a matter of keeping a dynamic balance between what is going on in the world and what is happening in my own personal life.

With an open heart, we should do what we can to help others in the world as we are mindful of the need to take care of our self on an individual level. Let us not allow our social activism become an escape route from working on improving our own personal shortcomings and getting rid of core character defects.

We exist in life before we have a conscious awareness of our actual singular beingness. Children begin with a cosmic awareness of themselves as being integrated into the world around them without separation. They feel oneness with all they touch as if what they touch is an actual extension of them. When they tough an object they become part of the object. There is no object/subject separation.

As we develop from early childhood into mature adulthood we became increasingly aware of the detached distinction between ourselves as a separate entity, an existential being, and the world at large. We see the difference between ourselves as a separate sentient being apart from the external world around us.

It is a faulty New Age assumption to assume we are all one. If we are all one, why do we witness so many divisions in the world? On an ideal level we should strive towards solidarity as one family of humanity, yet not suffer from any naïve illusions about pure quantum oneness in a complicated connected reality.

We need to help resolve the many problems we face in the world together, yet still see the beauty of our individual diversity, the specialness of each of us being a unique creature. We are not meant to be mindless clones.

As human beings we may all have the same basic biology, but not all human-animals are automatically humane beings. A humane being is one who has care, concern and compassion for all living beings. A humane being respects the natural rights of all beings in relation to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. Sadly, we are not all actually humane today in all our relationships. We strive towards mass unity. It is a striving not yet fully manifested.

We need to be aware and conscious of our existence as beings, not doings. Ultimately our being is the ground of consciousness, not the reverse. We are in our being before we are even aware of our beingness as self-aware conscious creatures. As our self-awareness increases we naturally develop a level of consciousness of ourselves as social beings. We live in the real rip-and-tear world whether we consider ourselves as being of the world or not. We are here now.

Being aware of our beingness helps us to avoid the constant stress of always having to appear to be doing something to justify our existence before others. Being is doing beingness. Stress can be a silent killer. Being keeps us more in touch with who we are, more in touch with our souls and creates a space for feelings in our being. You have a right to just be in your own space without explaining to anybody what you are doing.

As a being, I do not have to always be active as an activist. I can be content in my being, paying attention to my spiritual growth, even doing nothing but being. In fact, many social activists suffer from an array of mental disorders and spiritual illnesses because they get lost in all their doing, forgetting they are first beings. We want social activists who are compassionate humane beings, not cold ideologists. Remember that being an ‘activist’ can have positive or negative connotations. Many agent provocateurs are activists. We can be a progressive humane activist or we can be a reactionary Tea Party-type activist.

Before we are activated in our activism we must know why we are being active. What are our true motives? What drives us onward? Are we trying to impress others? Stand out in the crowd? Are we motivated by an inflated ego that seeks constant attention? Do we always have to be proven right and have the last word? Why do we do what we do? What kind of people do we want to be?

We can become aware that there are many troubles in the world and then make a firm decision to do something with our lives in order to make it a better world for all of us. At the same time, we should be aware of the personal work we need to do on our self for our own self-improvement, for our own self-evolution as liberated beings.

Let us advance our collective consciousness on the ground of being, conscious as loving living beings who are here to help create a new world for us and generations to come.
We should work on creating, raising and expanding our consciousness from a lower level to a higher level of understanding. What is the meaning and purpose of our life if it does not involve loving and helping others?

Being is the ground of consciousness. Staying conscious and grounded in our beingness helps us to pay better attention, without endless distraction, to the life that is unfolding before our eyes. Life is meant for the living to be fully lived by those who are awake and alive. For all its troubles and challenges it is still a beautiful fascinatng life we must make the best of while we live life on life’s terms. Help life live! ++++
++++ Namaste! Peter S. Lopez AKA @Peta_de_Aztlan c/s